Former sergeant pleads guilty in sex assault case

Friday

Apr 19, 2013 at 12:01 AM

A former sergeant with the Tuscaloosa Police Department has pleaded guilty to a criminal civil rights charge stemming from his sexual assault of a woman while on duty in 2011. Jason Glenn Thomas, 34, entered the plea Thursday in U.S. District Court.

By Jason MortonStaff Writer

A former sergeant with the Tuscaloosa Police Department has pleaded guilty to a criminal civil rights charge stemming from his sexual assault of a woman while on duty in 2011.Jason Glenn Thomas, 34, entered the plea Thursday in U.S. District Court.He faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 at his sentencing hearing, set for July 18 before U.S. District Judge C. Lynwood Smith.According to a news release announcing the plea, Thomas admitted to using his authority as a law enforcement officer to sexually assault a woman on March 27, 2011.Tuscaloosa Police Chief Steve Anderson said at the time that Thomas claimed he stopped and gave the woman a ride to a home on Keenes Mill Road.The woman, however, later called 911 and reported that Thomas stopped the patrol car and raped her on the side of the road, outside of his patrol car.Based on her complaint and the subsequent investigation, Tuscaloosa Police brought charges of first-degree sexual abuse against Thomas and put him in the Tuscaloosa County Jail on $7,500 bail.According to court documents filed in connection with his guilty plea, Thomas admitted that, shortly after midnight on March 27, 2011, he stopped and detained a 42-year-old woman he saw walking along Alabama Highway 216.Without placing her under arrest, the 11-year-veteran then drove her in his patrol vehicle to a remote area and sexually assaulted her, court documents said.“This former officer did the unimaginable when he used his police powers to sexually assault this victim,” Roy L. Austin Jr., deputy assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division, said in the plea announcement. “The Justice Department will continue to vigorously prosecute those who abuse their position and authority to harm those individuals whom they have sworn to protect.”Joyce White Vance, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, said Thomas’ actions served as a violation of the public’s trust.“Most police officers work diligently every day to protect the citizens,” Vance said in the press release. “A community must be able to trust its police officers. My office is committed to prosecuting any officers who abuse the authority of the badge to commit a crime.“This abuse of the public’s trust will not be permitted.”Richard D. Schwein Jr., FBI special agent in charge of the FBI Field Office in Birmingham, agreed.“Mr. Thomas dishonored his badge and his fellow officers when he violated the civil rights of a female pedestrian while on duty, in uniform and in a marked patrol car,” Schwein said in the release. “Citizens have a right and should expect ethical and proper treatment from all law enforcement officers and we, as civil servants, must never forget that we have sworn an oath to serve and protect them.“The public can be assured the FBI will continue to aggressively pursue those rogue officers who violate that trust.”